Opinion of MAMBE students

Read below what (former) course participants think about the MAMBE curriculum and how it helped in their professional career:

"The interdisciplinary link of molecular and
evolutionary biology is unique"

Anke Kloock, MSc
(PhD student at Oxford University, UK)

"Right after my Bachelor of Science in biology in Kiel, I started the German general Master of Science in biology in Kiel. When the MAMBE started, I decided to switch from the German general master to the more specific MAMBE program, as it reflects my interests in a better way than the general Master of Science in Biology. The interdisciplinary link of molecular and evolutionary biology of the MAMBE curriculum is unique.

Directly after finishing MAMBE in Kiel, I moved to Oxford to do my PhD there. I started in October 2016, and I can tell that without MAMBE I would most likely do not my PhD there. Due to MAMBE being taught completely in English, I hold an international degree, with which it was easier for me to apply to Oxford University. In the UK it is not usual to do a MSc, but I realize that this Master helped me a lot in terms of gaining experience and knowledge. Without MAMBE, I would not have been able to perform my own PhD project in the way in which I can perform it now. I am much more independent and look forward to have my very own project for the time of my PhD.

I never regretted my switch from the German general master to the English specialized MAMBE program and I can just encourage students to study MAMBE and to profit from this interdisciplinary study program in every sense!"

"The most helpful courses of the MAMBE curriculum
were the 'scientific presentation and writing' courses"

Mirja Gudzuhn, BSc
(PhD student at Hamburg University)

"My expectations from MAMBE were to learn more about evolution and especially about the evolution of microbes, because I am very interested in microbiology. The connection between microbiology and evolution is really great in the MAMBE curriculum.

However, the most helpful courses of the MAMBE curriculum were the 'scientific presentation and writing' courses. We enormously improved our ability to present a scientific talk and to write a scientific paper."

"I chose to study the Master of Molecular Biology and Evolution because I was looking forward to some computational and non-lab modules (e.g. Biostatistics, Evolutionary Game Theory). I was pleased to see that other courses taught how to efficiently analyse biological problems with computer-aided tools, too. Another reason for my decision was that the MAMBE curriculum is taught in English which is of much importance in today's scienctific work. As it turned out, adapting to another language was easier than I thought, especially since many fellow students are not German speakers but come from countries all over the world.

I gained many insights into the topics of different research groups that helped me finding my research focus. This was easily achieved because we had many different lecturers who told us about their research and projects, not only at Kiel University but also at the Max-Planck-Institute for Evolutionary Biology in Plön."

"MAMBE exhaustively teaches
all professional and general key skills"

Corinn Small, BSc
(PhD student at Technical University Munich)

"The courses that stood out to me in terms of 'challenging' were the scientific communication and management parts of the programme. Communicating and explaining your research succinctly is difficult and coming from a large public university in the US I had minimal chances to practice these skills in such a detailed and helpful manner. The MAMBE programme includes presentations in every mandatory course and really focuses on allowing you to practice and improve skills related to this very important aspect of your scientific career.

Molecular and evolutionary biology go hand-in-hand when it comes to understanding how biological systems have come into existence, work, and change over time. Many important fields of research and industry require all three of these aspects to progress and improve, for example antibiotic research. The Master in Molecular Biology and Evolution was created with this realization in mind and having knowledge and a background in both areas of research, MAMBE exhaustively teaches all relevant professional and general key skills."

"I learned in MAMBE not only what I wanted to know,
but I was able to explore completely new fields for me"

Ruben Hermann, MSc
(PhD student at Konstanz University)

"I realized early during my Bachelor studies that I wanted to be an evolutionary biologist. It was just natural to join the MAMBE curriculum for my Master studies. On the one hand I would learn the necessary background knowledge and on the other hand the methods to use it. Yet the most useful part of MAMBE for me were the courses, in which we learned to present, write (Scientific Presentation and Management) and analyze (Biostatistic) our work, as these are one of the most important skills and still mostly underrepresented in many other curricula. Moreover, MAMBE provided an opportunity to participate in courses of the Max-Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology (MPI) and establish connections to MPI groups. This made it possible for me to do internships in Evolutionary Theory (group of Arne Traulsen) and Evolutionary Ecology (group of Lutz Becks) and ultimately my Master thesis with Lutz Becks, who now took me on for a PhD project.

In conclusion, I learned in MAMBE not only what I wanted to know, but I was able to explore completely new fields for me (evolutionary theory & ecology), which have captured my interest and about which I cannot wait to learn more during my PhD project. This would not have been possible without my participation in the MAMBE curriculum."